Happy End: Conquest
by StuffedCrustLord
Summary: Taking place one year after the events of "Happy end". Giroro and Natsumi have created a happy life together on the now desolated planet Earth, taking care of Keroro and Tamama and raising their newborn son, Teri. But just as Giroro's long life as a soldier has taught him; when happiness is present, tragedy isn't far behind. (Rated M for blood and gore) (WARNING: character death)
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: **The following story is an unofficial sequel to the fan fiction "Happy end" by Rainbowkittyblossomwings. Read her story first to both avoid spoilers and to help you understand the plot better (although, this chapter is pretty much just a recap of what happened in that story, but it still doesn't do the entire thing justice). It is a story that I highly recommend that you read, as it is personally one of my all-time favorite fan fictions. The emotion, the tension and the characters all help to make that story a one of a kind treasure. And in all honesty, I'm not fully confident that I'll be able to top or even match the same feeling of reading Happy end with this story. But I'll certainly try.

Also, I don't own Sgt. Frog or any of its characters. All characters and names in this story are property of Mine Yoshizaki and Rainbowkittyblossomwings. I own nothing.

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><p><strong>PROLOGUE<strong>

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><p><em>Journal Entry Number 1: It's happened! It's finally happened! I've just been accepted into the military under my dad's watch! I'm so excited! I've been training non-stop for as long as I can remember, preparing myself for this day. According to my dad, I've been placed under the combat unit and will be leaving for training camp tomorrow. Most of my friends called me weird for wanting to join the military, but just wait until they see me again after a year of training under real Sargents and Generals. I'll be stronger and more energetic than I've ever been! Then I'll show them why being an invader is such an awesome job.<em>

_Besides, what do they expect? They know my dad is a high-ranked General. It makes sense that he would want me to be just like him. He may have been a bit hard on me as a kid, but at least now that I'm older I can better understand why. He just wanted to toughen me up. And to think I was such a baby about it, too. Just wait until he sees how strong I'll be after training's over. It'll probably be the happiest I've ever seen him. Heheheh. _

_But all in all, I'm just happy that I'll finally be living my dream of being a trainee in the Keron military force. Honestly, I'm trying as hard as I can to stay calm while recording this. I'm pretty sure that as soon as I'm done, I'll start jumping around the room like an excited tadpole. Heheh. Well, I better get ready to go. I may be leaving tomorrow morning, but it would still be easier just to get all of my packing out of the way early. _

_Oh...right. I've already finished packing. Heheheh. I forgot. I did all of my packing before I left to go sign up. I guess I was a bit more excited than I needed to be. Heheh. Well...at least I don't have to worry about it anymore. I still better go say goodbye to my friends. I should probably call my grandma too and tell her the good news. I wouldn't want her to miss my sendoff tomorrow morning. Looks like I've got a lot of stuff to do. I better get to work. Journal Entry: Offline._

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><p><em><strong>STAY OFF OF PEKOPON OR I'LL DO THE SAME TO YOU.<strong>_

"Who do you believe could have done this?" one of the three Supreme Commanders asked his two partners. The three Keronians stood in a small circle as they all stared down at the mysterious piece of evidence that had been recovered from the third failed Pekoponian invasion attempt. The photo that was taken from the recent accident on the leading General's ship had just been sent to them for analyzing and was sadly getting them nowhere. The blood-written threat was just too vague for them to say for sure who had written it. The leader turned to face his companions.

"It could be possible that this was the work of a surviving Pekoponian. Or perhaps a group of them did this together. It truly is hard to say for sure." he suggested, his partners only turning to face one another with blank expressions.

"Could a Pekoponian, or even many, really have enough strength and willpower to kill off one of our highest ranking Generals?" the third Commander questioned his leader's thinking.

"Sometimes even the most unlikely answer can be the correct one." the leader replied. Just as he had finished his thought, the automatic doors that worked as the entrance to the Commander's headquarters swung open. A single marine colored Keronian came rushing into the room at topmost speed, almost too fast for the doors to open in time to allow him inside. The Keronian stopped in front of them, trying to catch his breath through heavy panting before standing up straight and saluting to them while he spoke.

"Commanders! We have just finished out scan of what's left of the General's body! I'm sorry to report that..." the Keronian swallowed nervously. "...the 'you-know-what'...is missing."

Silence echoed through the room. The three Commanders stared down at the nervous Keronian from the small hovering pedestal they stood crowded on. After several seconds of uncomfortable staring, the leading commander slowly turned his head over to face his left partner, his eyes squinting once their gazes met.

"Send word to every available radio and network station across Keron. Immediately."

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><p><em>"Attention inhabitants of Keron. This is a message from the Supreme Commanders of the Keron Military Force. As of now, the planet known as Pekopon is off limits to any and all invaders hoping to finish what we could not. These Pekoponians are dangerous creatures and must not be allowed to come in contact with any Keronian at any time. So from here until further notice, Pekopon is officially off the map. Any Keronian ship that is caught headed in the direction of Pekopon will be shot down on sight. That is all.<em>

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><p>Invasion changes many things. It can permanently alter a civilization's way of life. It can lead to rebellion, hatred, war and death. But for the inhabitants of Earth, they were cursed with all of these things and worse when the Keronians came during the massive, planetary invasion just one year ago. After two years of peaceful living between the Keronians and the humans on the small planet known throughout the universe as Pekopon, the whole of the Keronian army, lead by a ruthless and bloodthirsty General, eventually took it upon themselves to finish what only a single platoon of five below average ranked soldiers could not.<p>

The began by eliminating Japan; the same country where the original invasion platoon, formally known as the A.R.M.P.I.T. platoon, had been stationed ever since they first arrived and had since befriended and grown attached to the enemy. They were each punished firmly and mercilessly for their traitorous actions against the Keron Army shortly after they were captured, with each punishment set into motion and supervised by the General herself, who also happened to be the mother of the platoon member named Giroro.

Keroro, the Sargent and leader of the platoon, was immediately stripped of his rank and sentenced to life as a puppet, forced to watch through the eyes of a clone copy of himself as it hunted down and murdered many of the Sargent's close companions.

Tamama, the Private, was sent back to Keron under orders of the General, where he was forbidden from returning to both Pekopon and the Keron army. He was later secretly recruited back into the military under the new name "Matata", hoping to seek vengeance on his past love interest Keroro after the Sargent's clone rejected his feelings towards him, breaking both his heart and spirit.

Dororo, the Lance Corporal and former Keron assassin, was never found by the Keronian forces. However, after dedicating his life during the invasion to protecting the helpless and weak from his own kind with the help of his life partner and ninja friend Koyuki, he was eventually discovered by the Keroro clone and almost lost his life in the process. However, although his life was spared, his and Koyuki's adapted daughter, who they had chosen to take care of after witnessing her parent's death, was lost in the crossfire. Unable to deal with the pain of her daughter's death, Koyuki quickly committed suicide shortly after realizing the truth, leaving Dororo permanently alone and with nothing to hold onto.

Kululu, the Sargent Major and science officer of the platoon, was recruited to help in the invasion during the first stage of the attack on Pekopon. He gladly took the offer and worked along side the General during both the invasion of Pekopon and the war on Planet Angol, which was set into motion when the young and naive Angolan named Mois, who had prior to the invasion worked along side the A.R.M.P.I.T. platoon, struck the Keroro clone out of rage, breaking the peace treaty that the Keronians and the Angolans had kept for so long.

However, his compassionate side eventually got the better of him and he began refusing the General's orders unless he was allowed to see the Angolan girl, Mois. Having gone against Military protocol by denying a superior's orders, he too was sentenced to be tortured as punishment. And as ordered by the General to help add insult to injury, he was placed into the exact same cell as Mois. For weeks he stayed there beside her, growing more and more attached to the naive girl as time passed. But when an unfortunate accident occurred during a drug hallucination caused by a poisoned plate of food, Kululu, believing that it was one of his old enemies, unintentionally murdered Angol Mois during the trip and woke up moments later drenched in her very blood.

With vengeance as his new priority, Kululu stole not only Mois' planet-shattering Lucifer Spear, which he quickly used to escape, but he also took out her very eye and attached it to his own socket, believing that he could hear her voice telling him to do so even after death.

Finally, Giroro, the Corporal and weapons specialist of the platoon, was the General's first target. Knowing of her son's choice to abandon the invasion after falling in love with a young Pekoponian by the name of Natsumi Hinata, she made it her main priority once she reached Pekopon to hunt down Giroro and sentence him to the worst torture possible. However, before she even made it to Pekopon, Giroro's older brother Garuru had already discovered their mother's plans and warned his younger brother of her arrival. With this small advantage, Giroro managed to save Natsumi from certain death and hide her away in a secret survival shelter designed by Kululu.

Shortly afterwards, Giroro was tracked down and punished by the Keron army just as the General had hoped. As punishment, his mind was wired into a computer simulation where he was forced to watch Natsumi, his lover, endlessly die for what was designed by the General to feel like decades. After a few months in the simulation, all traces of Giroro's sanity had all but been destroyed. Once he was released, he was but a shell of his former self. He only wanted death. He only wanted to be with her again, believing that she truly was dead. The General, having no pity for her mentally damaged son, sent him down to Pekopon, ordering him to eliminate any remained Pekoponians that may have survived the invasion, promising him the relief of death if he complied.

By the end of the first year since the invasion begun, the A.R.M.P.I.T. platoon and the relationships they had made with their Pekoponian allies over the years was no more. Their lives had become hell on Earth and it seemed as though there was no turning back. Mankind was on the verge of extinction. The Keronians had taken control of everything and were close to destroying all traces of human existence. There was no chance of survival for Earth anymore. All hope was lost.

But eventually, through many trials and many emotional and physical challenges, things seemed to begin looking up for the now departed A.R.M.P.I.T. platoon once again. Through the help of an unknown being from below the sea, Keroro was able to break free from his prison and managed to track down Natsumi before the Keron army did. Having discovered that she was alive, Keroro left to try and find Giroro and bring them both together once again.

Tamama, after spending several months on Pekopon hunting survivors, soon ran into his former Sargent once again, where he was let in on the truth about what had happened to Keroro and how the heartbroken Private had been rejected by a clone copy instead of the real thing. Joining sides with Keroro once again, the two reunited Keronians hunted down and murdered the Keroro clone as payback for all he had done.

Dororo, having grown a deep hatred towards Keroro for what his clone had done to Koyuki and his adapted daughter, he too eventually was found by Keroro and Tamama, where he immediately began attacking his former best friend with the full intention of killing him. After finally striking a death blow on the Sargent, he was only able to reclaim his thoughts once Tamama explained that it was a clone that had killed Koyuki and not Keroro. Realizing the error of his ways, he quickly went to work on attempting to revive Keroro using an ancient and forbidden ninja technique that transferred Keroro's injuries to himself. After stating his final request to Keroro to never forget him, the blue ninja quickly died in place of his friend, happy to know that his dear Koyuki could finally rest in peace.

Kululu, after fully taking control of Mois' spear, believed that he was happy now that he and Mois could be together for an eternity, but after a few months of attempting to destroy the planet by request of Mois's voice, he eventually realized that he could not go on living without her entire being by his side. While falsely turning back to his original job of assisting in the invasion alongside the General as a way to reclaim Mois' corpse, Kululu soon found himself back together with the rest of his now reunited platoon. With their team joined together once more, the A.R.M.I.T. platoon made it their new duty to put an end to the Keronian invasion once and for all.

Giroro, having been driven insane through his torture, met his older brother Garuru while he was on Pekopon and wrongfully murdered him when he tried to convince the ill minded soldier that Natsumi was still alive. However, with his last dying breath, Garuru managed to leave his brother one final message, which he wrote in his own blood, that he knew would give Giroro at least some kind of hope that not all was lost for him. But it was not until Giroro met Keroro that the truth about Natsumi's safety was finally beaten into him. Literally. As ordered by Natsumi, Keroro used all of his strength to give Giroro a massive smack across the face. After hearing Keroro's words "That was from Natsumi", Giroro was finally given the small salvage of hope he needed to clear his mind and realize what was real and what wasn't.

After finally reuniting with each other, Keroro, Tamama, Kululu, Natsumi and Giroro were ready to begin fighting back against the invaders. Many months of harsh survival passed by before they eventually made a shocking discovery; Natsumi was now pregnant with Giroro's child. After hearing this news, Giroro finally decided that he was through with waiting for the right opportunity to finish the invaders off. It had to end now. For now he had not only Natsumi to protect, but a child as well.

They made their final move. They attacked with all they had. Their spirits and their morals were put to the ultimate test. With one another by their side, they soon drove most of the Keron army to its knees. Giroro personally tracked down his mother and, after dueling with her in one of the toughest battles of his life, put a well deserved bullet straight through her head, ending her life of tyranny and torture once and for all. With no one to lead them, the remaining Keronian forces drew back from Pekopon and returned home without a second thought.

It was over

A year passed on the quiet planet of Pekopon. The invasion that drove the entire planet to extinction was long from being forgotten, but the few remaining lives that still resigned on the empty world had, for the most part, moved on from what had happened only twelve months prior. They were ready to leave behind the losses that were given to them by the immensely tragic event that had changed each of their lives for both better and for worse and finally look forwards towards a bigger and brighter future.

Giroro and Natsumi built themselves a new home and chose to spend the rest of their lives together their as a married couple, raising their son Teri and searching the remains of Earth for any survivors. Keroro chose to go back to his old job as house cleaner for Giroro and Natsumi, along with taking up the job of babysitting Teri whenever Giroro and Natsumi went out looking for survivors. Tamama continues to further his relationship with his former Sargent while also running his own candy store on the side to attract alien customers who may pass by (though, he doesn't get a lot of business). Kululu, however, never got over his affection for Mois and, after being unsuccessful in his mission to retrieve the rest of her body, quickly disappeared after the invasion ended. His whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

For some, the damage caused by the invasion was just too great and had left a permanent stain on their lives that could never be simply looked over and forgotten about. But for others, the very same accident that had affected their lives in their own ways was slowly losing its grip on them through the long and harsh span of time. They were finally ready to move on.

For in a world with a future that seemed nothing but bleak, there were some who managed to find a small light of hope somewhere along the way. And through that hope, they had found something that they had never expected to find after so many years of nothing but pain and misery. They had found something to care for once again. They had found something to make their lives worth living.

They had found their happy end.


	2. Anniversary

_Journal Entry Number 2: I just finished my first day of training. Wow, they do NOT joke around here. I can see why my dad is barely ever that happy. Life must suck when you're forced to go through this kind of stuff at his age. I swear, I could feel the bones in my legs loosening after about five hours of running. I know that's an exaggeration, but that's all I could think was happening at the time. Obviously, those 'who-knows-how-many' years of preparation I've been doing for this day didn't mean crap. And it's only the first day of training! ...I'm not gonna survive, am I?_

_Sorry if I have quite a different attitude from my last entry. I must sound like a real whiner, don't I? I'm just exhausted, that's all. I'll get used to this stuff eventually. My dad did. I think once when I was a kid, my mother told me that my dad used to be a pretty social and surprisingly trouble-making tadpole. Being a General can really change you, I guess. Although, I did meet a lot of frogs today who were of the same ranking as my dad, and they all seemed pretty friendly. Maybe my dad just...misses mom? I don't know. I've never really bothered to ask my dad about his feelings. He's just seemed so distant all my life. Doesn't really come off as someone you'd want to talk to about their feelings. I've always thought that he's just a grumpy and often mean-spirited frog because...that's who he is. I've never really asked him why. Am I scared?_

_Okay, recording a journal is one thing, now I'm just asking myself questions. I must look like a lunatic while doing this. Glad no one else is here listening in on me. That'd be embarrassing. And...kind of creepy, now that I think about it. ...Well, I think I've just about said all that I wanted to say. I think I'm gonna call it a night. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. Journal Entry: Offline._

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><p><strong>N-Nat-Natsumi! No! Please God, NO! NOT AFTER ALL THAT I'VE DONE TO PROTECT YOU! IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS! IT CAN'T! NATSUMI!<strong>

Giroro jolted out of his dream. Breathing heavily, his eyes dotted around the dark bedroom walls, trying to reclaim his grasp on reality. Turning to the side of his bed, he saw her. His warrior princess...no; his wife, sleeping soundly just inches away from him. He let out a stressful sigh and let his head weightlessly fall back to his pillow.

The nightmares were getting worse. Every other night he would be struck by one, and every other night he would be unable to get back to sleep. Following the usual routine he had already set for himself, Giroro slowly creaked out of bed and walked towards the bathroom to wash his face. Then, as always, he would walk down stairs, eat breakfast, listen to the radio, then go outside and fly around a bit on his hovercraft until the sun came up. It was a rather annoying routine, but, being an ex-military gunman, Giroro had been through much longer sleepless nights than this before.

Quietly walking downstairs, Giroro reached the hall that lead to the living room, where he found someone who he didn't expect to be up at this hour sitting inside. Staring out the window while looking as if he was in some kind of trance, the green frog remained silent, appearing not to have heard Giroro walk in.

"Keroro?" Keroro jumped up at Giroro's voice. Turning himself to face him, Keroro smiled in relief.

"Oh, Giroro. It's just you. What are you doing up so late?" Keroro asked, Giroro raising an eye in response.

"I could ask you the same thing. Shouldn't you be sleeping? You're still on baby sitting duty tomorrow, and I don't think Natsumi is gonna let you fall asleep on the job." Giroro walked up and sat next to Keroro on the torn apart couch, which sadly was not that comfortable, but compared to the shape that all the other furniture on Earth was now in, it did its job fairly well.

"Believe me, I won't. I've...had some stuff on my mind that has kept me from being that tired. I'll get to sleep soon, I promise. I mean, I know how serious Natsumi takes..." Keroro paused. "...wait...you still haven't answer my question. Why are YOU up so late?"

Giroro turned to opposite side of the couch, avoiding eye contact with Keroro. "I'm just...not that sleepy tonight. Thought I would get some fresh air. So, what's on your mind? What's been stopping you from sleeping lately?"

Keroro's chin dipped downwards, his expression turning to one of gloom. He swallowed before answering. "I'm...homesick."

Giroro became confused. Did he mean that he missed their old house where the base used to be? Was it because the old house had grown on him and he missed the memories it kept, or was it just something practical like his Gundam collection that he missed? Luckily, Keroro answered the ex-Corporal's question before he got the chance to ask.

"I know now how truly sinister our people really are. After what has happened, I now hate myself for even being a Keronian. But my family...my mother, my father, everyone I've ever known. I'll never be able to see them again."

Giroro turned to Keroro with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you told me that you still stay in contact with your parents."

"I do. I do." Keroro patted his chest. "It's just that...I...well, I miss SEEING them. That's all. I know that I'll never see Fuyuki again, and after four whole years, I've grown to accept that. But my family's still out there, wishing I was back home. Even though I do talk to them on occasion, I still miss being WITH them. And I know from talking to them that they miss me just as much. It does feel good to talk to them, but never being able to see them again is making getting to sleep much harder. I may never be able to see Fuyuki again, but at least I don't have to go every day knowing that he misses me just as much as I miss him."

Giroro was a bit surprised at Keroro's words. He never cared for most of his family, with Garuru being the only exception, so the thought of never being able to see them again never crossed his mind. He hadn't even bothered to think about how this entire ordeal would affect Keroro, or really anyone besides himself and Natsumi for that matter.

"Sometimes at night when I can't sleep, I just sort of sit here, looking up at the stars in the sky, wondering what my parents are doing. I know that must sound stupid, but...what can I say? It keeps me calm." Keroro rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed manner. Giroro sighed.

"No, that doesn't sound stupid at all. You miss Keron, that's clear enough. You do whatever it takes to make you feel less separated from home. I've never had that feeling myself, but I can at least understand your pain."

Keroro turned to Giroro, surprised at the red frog's sympathy. The war on Pekopon really had changed him. Of course, Keroro had already picked up on that after the whole 'having a baby and proposing to Natsumi' thing. This war had changed everybody he knew in one way or another. Keroro turned back towards the night sky, a scatter of bright stars covering the majority of the dark blue tinted emptiness around them.

"Do you think we'll ever be able to go back home? I mean, you know...if we live long enough for everyone to forget who we are? Or maybe there could be another way for me to see my parents before they die?" Keroro asked, hoping that Giroro could possibly ease his worries.

Giroro was silent for a few seconds. "I...really can't say for sure. But...hopefully."

Keroro chuckled, which was something Giroro truly did not see coming. "Yeah, I know I shouldn't think about that stuff. I still have you, Master Natsumi, and Tamama after all. I shouldn't spend my time thinking about 'what if'. Gotta' live life in the real world, you know?" he smiled.

"Y-Yeah." Giroro whispered, thinking deeply about Keroro's words. "The real world."

A long silence passed between the two frogs before Giroro suddenly heard his stomach growl, indicating that he needed his usual nighttime breakfast. Stretching his arms as he got up while letting out a small yawn, he turned back towards the hall that lead to the kitchen and began walking.

"Hey, Giroro." he stopped when he heard Keroro's voice, turning his head over his shoulder to face him.

"Yeah?" Giroro asked, Keroro continuing to stare blankly out the window.

"Thanks for the talk. I guess there were just some things that I needed to get out. I feel a lot better now." Keroro turned his attention away from the sky, looking to the edge of the couch that he was leaning on. "I think...I'm gonna try and get some sleep."

With that, Keroro leaped off of the couch and walked slowly past Giroro, making his way up the stairs and towards his room. "Goodnight." he said to Giroro just before disappearing from the red frog's sight.

Giroro remained still as he stared at the now empty staircase. Shaking his head a bit to clear his mind, he turned back towards the kitchen and went back to making himself breakfast. He had a feeling that Keroro would have a much easier time sleeping than Giroro from this moment on.

That heartless monster of a mother that Giroro was cursed with had shattered his very sanity, and it had taken a full four years for him to reclaim it. But that was just the main problem. The permanent damage was already done. He would now be forced to live with those haunting images of Natsumi dying in every way possible for the rest of eternity. If there were a way for him to forget everything his mother put him through, he would do it in a heartbeat. Keroro's troubles were over, Natsumi's troubles were over, but Giroro knew that his troubles would never end.

'It doesn't matter.' he reminded himself as he activated the coffee maker sitting in the corner of the kitchen counter. 'As long as Natsumi and my son are okay, a few nightmares is a small price to pay.'

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><p>"Hey, Mr. Keroro. I heard you're baby-sitting Teri for the day. You want to bring the little guy over here? I still have plenty of new candy in store." Tamama said into the telephone, looking over his stack of new 'Tamama's Cherry and Cheesepuff Bars' that had just gone on shelf.<p>

"Tamama, I told you, it's just Keroro. And that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about today. I guess now's the best time." Keroro replied, the sound of a screaming baby consuming all background noises.

"What's wrong, Mr.-I mean, what's wrong Keroro?" Tamama asked concernedly. Keroro felt a sweat pour down his face.

"Well, see...Master Natsumi...doesn't really want Teri...around your shop anymore." Keroro reluctantly admitted. Tamama was taken a step back by this.

"What!? Why not!?" Tamama shouted into the phone, Keroro being forced to pull away as to avoid possibly going deph.

"Well, it's just that Master Natsumi doesn't want her child growing up surrounded by candy. And your treats really aren't that healthy. She's worried Teri might start to get sick. I don't really get it either, but it's what Master Natsumi wants, so I have to obey. I'd rather not lose the privelage of having a roof over my head because of an argument about candy."

"But...me and Teri have so much fun together." Tamama felt as if he was on the verge of childish tears.

"Oh, don't worry about it too much, Tamama. You can still come over to see Teri. He just can't come to your shop anymore. That's all."

"THAT'S ALL!?" Tamama snapped. Keroro immediately felt a strong headache enter his mind at his partner's outburst. "NACHI IS DENYING TERI EVERY CHILD'S DREAM OF GROWING UP IN A CANDY STORE, AND YOU'RE TELLING ME TO 'NOT WORRY ABOUT IT TOO MUCH'!?"

"Look, it really isn't that big a deal! Honest! He doesn't NEED to grow up surrounded by candy, but is the candy really that important to your guys' relationship?" Keroro asked, instantly regretting it a second later when he realized that he already knew what Tamama's answer would be.

"OF COURSE IT IS! HOW CAN YOU SAY TH-!?"

"Toad!" Natsumi called for Keroro from down the hall that lead into the living room. Keroro turned away from his conversation with Tamama and smiled.

"Be right there!" he replied, placing the phone back up to his ear. "Sorry, Tamama. Gotta' cut this short. Love you."

"MR. KERORO! WAI-!" was the last thing Keroro heard before he hung up the phone, hoping that his partner wouldn't be too upset with him about it later.

Walking away from the phone, Keroro let out a deep, calming breath as he turned the corner and strolled into the living room with a pleasant looking smile still spread across his face. Sitting on the same wooden chair she had always used curdle Teri was Natsumi, her son thunderously crying in her arms as usual. Giroro sat on the couch, watching silently as his wife attempted to calm their worried child down. He would have wanted nothing more than to help her, but being a frog who has been surrounded by war his entire life, he was far from an expert when it came to taking care of children, even after the nine months of reading both he and Natsumi did on the subject before Teri was born.

"You called for me?" Keroro politely asked. Natsumi and Giroro both turned their attention to the green frog at once, warm smiles appearing on their faces when they saw him walk in from inside the hall.

"Yeah, we did." Natsumi answered, rocking her wailing child back and forth in her slow moving arms while attempting to talk over him. However, at this point, everyone who lived in her home, including Keroro, had already learned how to tune-out Teri's crying when talking to someone, so she was fairly confident that the three of them could hear each other just fine.

"We actually wanted to talk to you about last night. I told Natsumi everything." Giroro cut in. Keroro turned to Giroro with a jolt.

"Y-You did?" Keroro asked, placing his palm over his cap. Giroro nodded. "But...why?"

"We've been thinking a lot about what you said and how you feel. Missing your parents and everything must be pretty hard on you. We understand. We all lost our families during the invasion. But your family is still out there, alive and missing you just as much as you do them. So to celebrate our one year anniversary that's coming up next week, we have a special surprise for you." Natsumi replied, her voice becoming cheerful as she finished her last sentence.

Keroro's eyes widened. "W-What?"

Giroro and Natsumi turned to one another, the two of them exchanging joyous smiles before turning back to Keroro a few seconds later. "For our anniversary trip, we're going back to Planet Keron for a three day vacation. You'll finally get to see your parents again." Giroro answered.

Keroro froze. Too many different thoughts for him to count instantly swarmed into his mind after Giroro finished, with just as many question following shortly after. "B-B-But...how...that's...HOW...!?" Keroro attempted to put his thoughts into words as Natsumi and Giroro continued to smile at the confused Keronian's overwhelming reaction.

"Giroro got in contact with an old friend of his just this morning. He knows not only how to get us to Keron, but he also has special disguises we can use so that no one will recognize us." Natsumi stated.

Keroro still struggled to comprehend the situation at hand as he prepared himself to ask another question. "A-And what about my parents? Will they know it's me?"

Giroro nodded. "My friend has already gotten in contact with them and told them everything. Trust me, they know we're coming and exactly what we look like. We're supposed to meet them at your old house as soon as we get there. I'm guessing you're excited?" Giroro asked with a grin.

Several questions were still present in Keroro's mind, such as who this old friend of Giroro's was and how he not only managed to find a way passed the Keron Army but also get his hands on special disguises, but he eventually stopped carrying and could only think about what this meant for him and his parents. "Excited? EXCITED!?" Keroro sprung into the air with glee. "Are you kidding!? I'll get to see my parents again! I won't have to miss them anymore! This is the greatest news ever!"

Natsumi's smile widened, Teri's tears having almost entirely died down by this time. "We thought you'd be excited. Think of this as a sort of 'Thank you' for all you've done both around the house and with watching Teri."

"Wait...what am I doing!?" Keroro asked himself, suddenly freezing in place. "I need to go start packing! I have so much stuff I want to show my mother after all this time! I'll be in my room!" he shouted as he disappeared into the hallway and frantically ran up the stairs.

Natsumi let out a quick sign and turned to Giroro, who she noticed had a degenerating smile. Reaching over toward the couch, she calmly placed her hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Giroro immediately turned to her at the feel of her touch, his previously glowing smile slowly changing into a disappointed frown.

"You're a good friend, Giroro. A very, very good friend." Natsumi said with much sincerity. Giroro turned towards the floor and let out a quiet huff. He hated the idea of going back to Keron. Revisiting the home planet of the very same people that had tortured him and driven him insane so long ago. The same people who almost took his dearest Natsumi away from him. The same people who had used him, betrayed him, and forced him to do things that will no doubt haunt him for the rest of his long and seemingly never ending life. He'd honestly rather die than ever have to look at another blood-thirsty Keronian again. Knowing that used to be one of those murderous, war-driven Keronian soldiers himself was already painful enough.

"I know how much you hate the idea of going back. I really do. But remember, this was your idea to begin with. You're the one putting aside your feelings just to give your best friend what he wants. No one is forcing you to do this, Giroro. You're doing this yourself, for him. That, to me at least, fully shows just how much you've changed in the short time I've known you. You've become such a better person since you first came here, it's astounding." Natsumi tried to comfort her upset husband.

"I was a monster when I first came here. I kidnapped your brother and tried to kill you. I was just as bad as the ones who destroyed Earth."

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you've changed your ways and have made your life better for it. You've become one of the nicest, most gentle and heartfelt people...or...aliens I've ever met. And what you're doing now, for the Stupid frog, has got to be one of the nicest things I've ever seen you...ANYONE ever do." Natsumi finished, reaching over and kissing Giroro and the forehead.

"In fact..." Natsumi's tone suddenly changed to one of seduction as her mouth slowly approached his ear flap. "...you've been acting so good lately, I think someone deserves a little reward. Tonight, maybe?" she whispered, getting closer and closer each second.

Giroro chuckled. "I suppose. If you really want to give me something special, well...how can I say no?" he replied in the same quiet tone before turning his head back towards his wife and kissing her passionately on the mouth. The two chose to stay like that for a long twenty seconds before Teri began crying once again. Natsumi returned her attention back to her child, rocking him back and forth once again.

"Oh, is someone hungry?" she asked, Teri continuing to cry in response. "Alright, alright. I guess it's feeding time."


	3. Choking

A New Chapter! Special thanks to all of you who reviewed the first two chapters. It's nice to know that I have so much support :)

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><p><em>Journal Entry Number 3; It's been a while since I last recorded one of these. Probably close to a month now. I've gotten pretty used to what's expected around here. It's still a lot tougher than I thought, though. I've already had to go to the medic three times this week. I'm currently recording this while on a life bed in camp twelve's medical bay. I was shot in the leg by a training bullet when my protective shield suddenly malfunctioned. Apparently this is a recurring thing around here and they're working on a way to fix it. I don't buy it though. They probably just say that it's a 'malfunction' so that they have an excuse to put us in actual danger of being shot while training. Guess they think it'll help keep us on our toes while we're out there. Well, I certainly will from now on, so I guess...it worked? Whatever. I should be back to normal by morning.<em>

_Also, this may sound odd, but I think I met someone today. That's actually the reason I decided to do one of these entries again. I don't know his name exactly, but he was the first one to notice that I was injured during the madness that is firearm training. When he saw that I couldn't walk, he picked me up in his arms and carried me out of battle all the way to the medical bay. Can you believe that. He probably would have been killed if not for his working shield. He just visited me about an hour ago, actually. I asked him why he helped me, and he told me that you never leave another soldier behind. After a while, we just started talking. Turns out we actually have a lot in common. Our dreams of becoming higher ups. Our less-than-supportive father figures. He even lost his mother when he was a kid just like I did. Although, from what he told me, he took it a lot tougher than I did. Actually ran away from hope after her passing and never went back. Joined some kind of gang and was raised on the streets from then on until eventually joining the military. It sounds horrible, yet...under his blood red skin, he's actually a very caring and understanding frog._

_I know, I'm just rambling as I always do. The point I'm trying to make here is...I think he's the only guy that I've met so far in this whole camp that I actually enjoy talking to. He's not cruel or cocky or just in it for the glory like everyone else. He's a lot like me in a lot of ways. I hope I see him again. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I'm gonna see him again. This entire camp is filled to the brim with assholes, so I doubt he's gonna want to spend that much time with anyone else. Let's just hope that he doesn't get moved to a new quarter or something. I don't want to be separated by a giant electric force field from the one frog who I find tolerable around here._

_Well...I think it's time I got some shut-eye. If I stay awake any longer, I'm gonna be too tired in the morning to even complete one lap. And the last thing I want is to go deaf on one side because of a Sargent screaming in my ear again. I swear, if another one of these trainers tells me to 'get up you fat bitch' one more time I'm gonna smack them across the face. Sure, that'd probably get me about a week in 'the hole', but I imagine it'd be worth it. ...Shit, it's ten o' clock already. Time to wrap things up. Journal Entry; Offline._

Natsumi held Giroro around his waist as they calmly flew across the sky on his hovercraft, watching as the grey wastelands of Earth passed by hundreds of feet beneath them. They had just left on their daily survivor search less than an hour ago, leaving Keroro to watch over Teri while they were gone. The small trees that were scattered across the dusty mountains that were once Japan were all the two lovers could see for miles around. The Keronians were very determined to make sure that their would be no remaining evidence that humans ever existed, leaving almost nothing left of the tall towers and bright lights that covered most of downtown Tokyo.

"It's been so long. I can still remember being back at our old house, hustling to make sure that dinner was ready for when Mom came home. So much has happened, and yet...it all changed so quickly." Natsumi stated, looking down at the world below and hoping to find at least one land mark that she found familiar.

"I can't say that I feel the same." Giroro replied, remembering all of the extra years that had been added to his memory.

"So, where should we search next? We've been doing this for close to a year now. At this point, we've got to be running out of places to look. And that's not even counting all of the times we double-checked a few areas." Natsumi pointed out. The two lovers had already discussed the possibility that Natsumi might truly be the only living human on Earth, but neither of them wanted to imagine such a scenario being true. They had to keep their hope that the human race had at least SOME chance of prospering alive.

"Have we checked all of America yet?" Giroro turned his head and asked.

"Yep. All of North America in fact. We finished just after Hawaii last month." she responded. She had been keeping a close and very precise track of which countries they had been to and which ones they had searched completely from top to bottom. She had even memorized the pattern in which they had decided to search for survivors from the very beginning. They began with the most populated counties; later moving on to the largest countries; then the smaller ones; followed by the lesser known or mainly unpopulated ones; then finally, and most recently, the areas in which any common person would think no humans would be, such as icy mountain tops and rain forests. It was a long shot, but it was still at least possible that one or more humans might have scurried away to these areas when they first heard about the invasion, hoping to wait out the apocalypse and repopulate.

"What about Australia?" Giroro questioned again.

"Searched it last July."

"...Egypt?"

"Sorry. Already searched."

Giroro uneasily turned back towards the sky ahead, a cold feeling suddenly entering his body. 'She's right.' he thought. 'We are running out of places to look.'

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><p>"Okay! Okay! THIS time I got it!" Keroro said in a half serious voice as Teri continued to laugh uncontrollably at the green frog's antics. Keroro grabbed the square toy block once again and placed it on the top of his head. Pretending to have trouble balancing it, he eventually let the block fall to the ground as he let out a fake yell of anger, Teri bursting out laughing just afterwards.<p>

Keroro turned away from his game with Teri after he heard three quick knocks on the front door. "Just a second!" Keroro called out to whoever was waiting to be let inside. Keroro turned back to Teri with a smile. "Hold on to that block for me, okay? Uncle K. will be right back."

Getting up and walking towards the door, Keroro once again heard three loud knocks against the wooden door, this time much louder and more aggressive. "Alright! Keep your hat on! I'm coming!" Keroro yelled, opening the door and letting whoever it was in. Standing in the open doorway was Tamama, smiling at his former Sargent and appearing to act as cute as possible.

"Hey, Keroro. Just checking up on you guys. How's Teri?" Tamama asked in a polite and overly friendly tone. Keroro raised an eye in both confusion and concern.

"Hey,...Tamama." he paused between words as he stared at his Private's suspicious looking grin. "Are...you feeling alright?"

"Sure! Why do you ask?" he replied, keeping the same cheery tone as before.

"I just...thought you'd be a bit more angry at me the next time I saw you. You know...with the whole candy thing. How Teri can't come to your shop anymore? The first time in a while that I hung up on you?"

"Oh, THAT?!" Tamama reacted in both a surprised and oddly calm manner. "NAH! I'm WAY over that. That was just me acting silly. It really isn't that big a' deal. Honest."

Keroro suddenly felt all the more concerned. 'He's never acted like this before. I hope I didn't break him with that call.'

Tamama, shutting his eyes and throwing his arms up with each kick, joyfully skipped past Keroro and into the hallway, pausing when he saw Teri sitting in the living room as he passed. "Teri!" he shouted, catching the small child off guard.

"DAHMEH!" Teri yelled, dropping the wooden block in his hand onto his knees as it rolled off onto the floor. Tamama reached his arms down and gestured his fingers for Teri to crawl towards him. Falling to his side, Teri quickly got on all fours and began slowly crawling towards Tamama, the black Keronian encouraging the small child to continue with each crawl.

"So...Tamama..." Keroro walked up behind his partner, talking over his shoulder. "...did Giroro tell you about our trip back to Keron?"

Tamama nodded, still facing Teri's direction as he reached the half way point. "Uh-huh. Congratulations. I know how badly you miss your folks." he stated. He and Keroro had been together since the invasion's second phase, and they had grown to know each other far better than they ever had before. They rarely kept anything from each other at this point. If there was anything bothering Keroro at any time, Tamama would always be the first to know about it.

"It'll be good for you to see your parents again. I'm sure that they'll be just as happy to see you, too. You can never go wrong with family. Why, I'll bet..."

"Okay, Tamama. Something's off with you. What's going on? What's this really about?" Keroro crossed his arms as he spoke in a firm tone.

Tamama turned to Keroro with a startled expression. "What do you mean?"

"Tamama...if I know you as well as I do...the only reason you'd act this friendly and cute is if you wanted something in return. You know how much I hate it when you do this, so just tell me what's wrong already so I don't have to keep guessing. Do you want Teri to be aloud into your store again? Is that what this is about? I told you, that was Master Natsumi's decision. I have no say in it."

"No!" Tamama furiously shouted back, causing Teri to stop as he was just a few inches away from the small black Keronian. "I'm just happy for you, that's all! Why would you think I'm up to something when I'm just trying to be nice!?"

"Tamama?" Keroro tilted his head in disbelief. Teri attempted to speak in reaction to the two arguing frogs, but it only came out as mumbled gibberish.

"Look. Why don't you go into the kitchen and get us something to drink so that we can talk about this maturely?" Tamama suggested, his strange attitude becoming all the more noticeable. Keroro rolled his eyes before finally giving in and turning towards the kitchen before walking down the hall and disappearing from sight.

Tamama smiled devilishly. "Hey, Teri." he whispered to the small child, Teri looking up at him with a blank stare. "I brought something for ya'." Tamama reached into his hat and pulled out two of his new candy bars from under it.

"CANY!" Teri yelled in surprise, Tamama covering the boy's mouth less than a second later and placing his index finger on his own lips, shushing the child.

"Let's keep this our little secret. Here." Tamama tore open the wrapper on one of the bars and handed it to Teri. "Eat it fast before Mr. Keroro gets back."

"You guys okay in there!?" Keroro called out from the kitchen as Teri took his first bite of the sugar-filled treat.

"Yeah! We're fine!" Tamama replied in slightly nervous tone of voice. He tore open his own bar and began chewing as fast as he could without making any loud crunching noises.

Turning his head down to face Teri, he saw that the boy had not even finished half of the bar. Knowing that Keroro could walk in any second now and catch them, the black Keronian knelt down close to Teri's ear and began whispering. "Hey, Teri. How about we have an eating contest? First one to finish wins. Ready? Go." Tamama quickly pulled back and began stuffing his piece of candy down his throat as fast as time would allow. Following the Keronian's example, Teri chose to do the same and started shoving as much of the bar as he could into his tiny mouth.

Throwing the last few crumbs of his candy into his mouth as though he was inhaling them, Tamama swallowed as much of the chewed up remains as he could before peering into the hallway to check up on Keroro, only to see him just a few feet away with two glasses of milk in each hand, preparing to turn the corner. Looking back towards Teri, he instantly noticed something was wrong. The child was coughing. Small pieces of candy began violently spitting out of Teri's mouth. Tamama's eyes widened. Speeding to Teri aid, he began frantically asking the child what was wrong, only getting several high-toned wheezes in response. Putting the pieces together, Tamama came to a disturbing conclusion.

"MR. KERORO! HELP! TERI'S CHOKING!"

The sound of two glasses shattering was heard from inside the hallway as Keroro rushed into the living room immediately afterwards. Watching Tamama as he pounded on Teri's chest, Keroro quickly ran past the Private and furiously pushed him out of the way before getting behind Teri and wrapping his arms around his stomach, forcefully thrusting on the child in an attempt to get the massive chunk of food out of his throat.

Tamama only watched from the sidelines as Keroro gave his technique everything he had while Teri's cheeks began to turn a dark purple. The boy's coughing began to become less frequent as his loss of air grew with each passing second. Small tears could be seen in the corner of Keroro's eyes as he began pushing all the harder on Teri's stomach, appearing to have no greater effect than it did before.

Teri's head fell backwards. His pulse began to weaken. His voice had all but disappeared. Keroro continued pushing, his arms growing tired and his eyes becoming twice as watery as before. Tamama quickly broke down soon afterwards, his own tears pouring down his face in reaction to what he had done. Keroro's thrusting began to slow down as his arms were far past the point of giving out. Teri's body had lost all movement. His breathing had ceased to be heard by either of the frogs. Drool began oozing out of his open jaw. It was by far the most horrific image both Keroro and Tamama had seen in a very long time.

Keroro screamed, pulling back on Teri's stomach with as much force has his body would allow. Teri's upper body bent forwards as close to a half of a candy bar flew out of his mouth, landing on the nearby floor beside Tamama's feet. Teri let out several heavy inhales of breath as his cheeks slowly lost their purple color. He immediately coughed out the remaining crumbs from his throat as soon as he could breath again. He spit out as much of the candy as he could onto his naked stomach, his body quickly becoming covered his his own sticky drool.

Keroro fell backwards in exhaustion, his arms feeling close to numb and his head feeling incredibly light. Tamama rushed forwards and hugged Teri in a massive outburst of joyous relief. The shaking Private cried intensely onto the child's shoulders as Teri began madly crying once more as an instinctive reaction to what had just happened.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY, TERI! I'M SO SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" Tamama began mindlessly shouting to the young boy as Keroro eventually found the energy to get back onto his feet. Looking up at Keroro as he stared at the floor with a hidden expression, Tamama swallowed his last existing tears and spoke to his partner with a sincere apologetic voice.

"M-Mr. Keroro, I...I just wanted Teri to...I didn't mean-"

"Get out." Keroro interrupted. Tamama felt his face turn grey.

"...Mr. ...Keroro?"

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" Keroro screamed with as much anger as he could muster. Tamama quickly let go of Teri and stood upwards in a startled pose. Keroro instantly ran up to Tamama and began pushing him away towards the door. Throwing the door open for him once he was close enough, Keroro relentlessly threw Tamama out of the house and onto the shattered concrete steps in front of him. Tamama, the tears in his eyes now once again pouring down his face at rapid speeds, turned back to his angered partner as hurtful memories of a similar situation returned to his mind.

"Go home and don't ever come back here again!" Keroro released all of his remaining rage before finally slamming the door on the crying Private's face. Turning around and leaning against the closed door, Keroro could only hear the sound of Teri's terrified crying as it echoed through the now empty household. Giving in after only a few seconds of silence, Keroro slowly slid to his knees and wrapped his quivering head in his still extremely tired arms. Then, with the house now to himself, Keroro began crying.


	4. Apologies

**Sorry for the delay, everyone. December has been a pretty busy week for me with the holidays and New Years and everything. Plus, a GODDAMN TREE fell in my front yard about two weeks ago, which has just made my life harder. Luckily, it's out of the way now and I have enough firewood to last me the next few years. So at least there's an upside. But enough banter. I think I owe you guys a chapter.**

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><p><em>Journal Entry Number 4: I just learned that my dad is being flown in tomorrow. Apparently, one of the Sargents was injured on the job, and...they're having my dad brought here to replace him. <em>_I've been thinking about it constantly ever since I heard the news. I haven't seen my dad in so long. Or...anyone I know for that matter. I can't stop wondering what he'll think of me after he learns about my progress here. I mean, I've been d__oing...okay, I guess. But I'm not number one in the class as I was hoping. Or even number two. But, who knows? Maybe my dad will be proud of me this time. Or at least...humbled? Eh? I don't know. I just hate that I have to wait until tomorrow to hear his reaction. I'll be lucky if the stress doesn't kill me tonight in my sleep. _

_On a side note, I was right about seeing that blood red Keronian again. It's only been about a week since we first met, and I've seen him at least five or six times since then. Turns out he's stationed in the camp right next to mine. Sometimes the two camps exchange troops during battle simulations, which is how I've been seeing him so much lately. We talk occasionally, and he still seems like a pretty nice frog. But...something's...weird about him. He always talks in a low, cough-like voice. I'm starting to think he's a smoker. I'm afraid to ask, though. I'm worried that if that really is just his natural voice, he might take offense. But other than that, I really have no problem talking to him. I feel like I can be myself around him without having to worry about saying anything wrong, like my dad. I've always tried to be a bit more open with my friends, but I've begun to think over the months that they just see me as a third wheel. A tag-along. Someone who's there, but...doesn't really get listened to that much. _

_...Fuck, I'm rambling again. __Well, I guess that's expected. I tend to do that when I've ran out of things to talk about. I'd better just hurry up and finish this last bit quick. Tomorrow, I'm thinking about asking my dad about mom. I've been thinking about it ever since I decided to sit down and re-listen to all of my old journal entries. When I reheard the second one, I began to think that maybe my dad really is just sad about my mom's disappearance. We never did find out what happened to her. It possibly could have scarred my dad to the point of no return, making him into what he is today. I don't even know his opinion about my mom, since I've always been afraid to ask him. Even as a kid, I knew that it was definitely a very emotional subject that was better left unmentioned. But tomorrow, I swear, I'm gonna find out the truth. Maybe I can even help him deal with mom's loss, if that really is what's been the matter all this time. I'm not sure how, but...I'll think of something when the time comes. Until then, I can only wonder. I'll most likely record another one of these tomorrow and talk about how it went. So...I suppose I won't waste anymore time on this one. I think I've said all that I needed to. Journal Entry: Offline._

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><p>Giroro pulled up on his hover board, swerving slightly left before gently levitating down to the dusty ground. After coming to a full stop, both passengers carefully stepped off the disc-shaped device, looking at each other with equally upset and somewhat scared faces once they were both back on their feet. They had no idea how they were going to break the news to Keroro. What would this mean for their future? For Earth's future? And what about Teri? Natsumi was positive that this sudden realization that she and Giroro had had while they were out would no doubt effect Teri's life the most.<p>

"I suppose we should just tell him up front and not waste any time easing him into it. It's best that he just learn the truth as quickly as possible. He'll have more time to process it that way." Giroro said, reaching towards Natsumi's side and holding her motionless hand tightly, grabbing her attention. "That goes for all of us."

Natsumi smiled. "I know. But I don't think this is gonna be an easy thing to cope with." She began to think back to all of the harsh truths that had been revealed to her during the events of the invasion. There was the sight of her house exploding, finding her friend Koyuki's grave, and of course, watching her own brother, the one who she had spent the most time searching for throughout the majority of the invasion, die right in front of her because of a bullet to the heart. After looking back at everything that had happened and fully realizing just how many horrific things she had to overcome in just these past five years alone, she was now a bit more confident that learning to come to terms with the disturbing truth that they had both finally accepted would not be as impossible as it appeared.

Giroro lightly tilted his head to the side, looking past Natsumi and directly at the closed door that stood at the entrance of their house. He could have sworn he heard crying from inside. It certainly wasn't Teri, but it was definitely familiar. And seeing as there were only two people who were in the house at the moment, Giroro had a pretty positive guess as to who it was.

Walking up the three concrete steps and getting merely a few inches from the door, he placed the side of his head against the wooden block and listened attentively on the sound of crying from behind it. After only a few seconds of listening, he knew for sure that it was Keroro. Finally grabbing the knob and letting himself in, he saw Keroro's head spring up out of his curled up position as he sat on the first step of the house's staircase, startled by the sound of the creaking door suddenly opening. He quickly wiped away the tears when he saw his red colored friend and his wife walk in.

"Good...evening, Giroro. Master...Natsumi. Don't worry about Teri. He's upstairs in bed, sleeping. I managed to get him to go to sleep a few hours ago. How was your...search?" Keroro spoke between sniffs. Natsumi looked at the small green frog with a worried frown.

"What happened? Is something wrong?" Natsumi asked. Giroro remained silent, staring at Keroro blankly while also trying to hide his own worried feelings. He hadn't the slightest idea of what had caused Keroro to fall apart like this, but the thought of what it could be still did not sit well with him.

Keroro swallowed deeply before speaking, this time as clearly and as firmly as he could. "Tamama showed up earlier today. He brought candy for Teri even after I told him that he couldn't anymore. He tried to give it to Teri while I wasn't looking, but then..." Keroro paused, preferring not to continue. "...Teri started choking on the candy and..."

"WHAT!?" Natsumi jumped forward and grabbed both of Keroro's shoulders in a tight grip, pulling him closer towards her. "IS TERI OKAY!? WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!? TELL ME!"

Crying instantly appeared upstairs. Natsumi's sudden screams had woken Teri up from his six o' clock nap and had now caused him to panic. After hearing her child's call, she immediately ran past Keroro and flew up the staircase to both check on her baby's condition and to take care of his sobbing. As he watched his wife frantically run upstairs, Giroro chose to stay put and allow Keroro to finish telling him what had happened.

"So...I managed to save Teri, but afterwards, I...attacked Tamama. I was just so angry and so...scared that I...I completely lost sight of myself and threw him out the door. I told him to...never come here again."

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><p>Natsumi burst through the door of Teri's room, finding the small infant screaming in his bed as he normally would whenever he was woken up during one of his naps. His arms reached out towards the air, waiting for his mother to walk in and grab him. His mouth was fully open as he screamed, his bottom lip quivering and his eyes as tightly shut as he could get them. Natsumi let out a relieving sigh. Never had she been so happy to see her baby boy laying in his bed crying.<p>

Natsumi quickly walked up to her child's bed and carefully picked Teri up in her arms, gently setting him over her shoulder. She shushed his wailing screams as she rubbed his back in a circular motion. She tried her very hardest to hold back her tears of both fear and relief. The image of Teri choking had engulfed her every thought since she entered the room. Here Teri was, safe and sound laying in her own arms, crying for attention, yet the very thought of her child choking was enough to send Natsumi over the deep end. She collapsed, letting all of her emotions out and immediately began crying almost as loud as the child she was holding.

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><p>Giroro could hear his wife's crying from downstairs, Keroro too focused on his own troubles to be bothered to notice. The sound of her aching voice brought a stinging pain to Giroro's stomach. But even with that, Giroro still kept most of his attention set on Keroro, since he seemed to be the one who needed to be comforted right now. His wife meant more to him than anything in this universe and beyond, but she had always made sure to remind him that he still had a duty to protect Keroro as well.<p>

"Look, if you're so upset about it, why don't you just go apologize?" Giroro asked as he set his hand on the quivering, teary-eyed frog's shoulder.

"But...he looked so heartbroken when I threw him out. He'll probably never want to see me again. You know how Tamama is." Keroro replied.

Giroro did, in fact, know very well how childish Tamama could act sometimes. If someone made him angry for any reason whatsoever, he would more often than not throw a completely unneeded tantrum which would most likely lead to either a life-or-death, home-shattering battle with his enemy or to him just breaking down entirely and running away or secluding himself from everyone he knew. But seeing as it was Keroro who had made him upset, the frog who had risked his life to protect him on several occasions and had been dating him for the past two years, maybe Tamama would act a bit more mature about it this time around and possibly spare everyone of the same old angry tantrum that he would always have. Though, in secrecy, Giroro didn't get his hopes up that much.

"Look, if you really love Tamama, then you should do what you think is right for the both of you. If you want to apologize so badly, then go apologize. If you don't, then don't. But if you REALLY want to apologize but you're afraid that he'll reject you, I promise, if Tamama really loves you, I'm sure he'll understand."

Keroro wiped his tears from his eyes. He swallowed what remaining chokes and sniffles he had left. He pulled himself up off of the stairs and stood up straight. "Alright. I'll...I'll be right back." Keroro spoke before sprinting past Giroro as fast as he could, making his way out the door and into the dirt trail just outside their front gate towards Tamama's shop.

Watching the green frog race outside at top speed and quickly disappearing from sight, he turned his attention back towards the crying upstairs. Natsumi appeared to have stopped since he last heard her, but Teri seemed to be still going at it. As he stood there at the bottom of the stairs, reaching his right foot forward to start climbing, a startling realization suddenly entered his mind when he began to think back to the conversation he and Keroro just had.

'Shit.' he thought. 'I forgot to tell him the news. I'll have to wait until he gets back.'

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><p>"Tamama!?" Keroro shouted as he peered his head through the open front door of his partner's shop. Silence only came from the seemingly empty candy store. Carefully throwing the rest of the door open and walking inside, he began to look around at every shelf of individually wrapped candies and at all of the different colored wrappers that they had been sealed in. It was clear just by looking that Tamama was far from an expert on wrapping. Each wrapper appeared to have just been crumpled around the rectangular bar they were holding, with large black words written in marker on each one to distinguish which bar was which flavor. The floor was predictably dirty, with small crumbs sprinkled around randomly across the room, most likely residue from Teri's last visit to the shop.<p>

"Tamama!? Are you here!? I'd like to talk to you!" Keroro shouted once again, this time with a much more relaxed tone. There was no reply. "Look, Tamama. I'd like to apologize for earlier. I was just furious, that's all! I didn't mean to lash out at you like that. I'd like it if we could just talk this out and maybe come to an understanding!"

Keroro eventually made his way to the front counter, where Tamama would usually be standing whenever Keroro came in. Finding no one standing behind it, he began to check below the back of the counter, expecting his partner to be hiding behind it, hoping to avoid being found by Keroro. Once again, he found no sigh of the black Keronian. The only noticeably different thing he could find in the shop was Tamama's phone, which was hanging off of its handle and dangling over the floor, the annoying ring of the dial tone erupting from it. Grabbing the dangling phone and placing it back on its handle with a 'click', Keroro could only worry by this point.

'Tamama...where are you?'

He had checked every corner, every shelf, every single inch of the shop. Still, Tamama was no where to be found. It was now twenty minutes past seven. The exhausted frog quickly ran outside into the dimly lit world around him, screaming at the top of his lungs as he stood there in the open trail that lead to Giroro's house.

"TAMAMAAAAA!"

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><p>It was now closing in on nine o' clock. Keroro, having finally made his way to the end of the trail, stumbled back up the concrete steps of his home and walked inside, focusing on nothing but the constantly changing ground beneath him. The air outside was cold as ice, so Keroro made sure to close the door as soon as he was inside. He heard steps coming from the stairs. He looked up, eyeing Natsumi as she made her way down, Giroro only a few steps behind.<p>

"Toad?" Natsumi reacted when she saw the shaking, silver-eyed frog in front of her. "What happened to you? You look terrible." she said with concern. Keroro faced the floor once again as Natsumi rushed to his aid, placing her palm on his back and guiding him toward the living room couch.

"I...spent the evening looking for Tamama. He's...disappeared." Keroro explained, falling onto the couch and letting his entire body sink into the cushions. "When I checked the shop,...he wasn't there. So I decided to check the hills near the house to see if he had...tried to run away. It took...hours. But I couldn't...find him. He's gone."

Natsumi and Giroro turned to each other with shocked expressions. Tamama couldn't have just disappeared. Even if his argument with Keroro had affected him to the point of making him want to run away, there was a very low chance that he could have made it very far since just this afternoon.

"Any clues as to where he went? Anything strange?"

"Nope. The only thing I found odd was his phone hanging off its handle. As if someone answered the phone before just...dropping it. But...no. Nothing. I'm clueless as to where he went. None of his things are missing and his shop still had its 'open' sign up. He just...vanished." Keroro could feel tears once again forming in his eyes, thinking deeply about what might have happened to his past Private and whether or not he'll ever even see him again. The more he thought about it, the worse it became.

Giroro's eyes shot towards Natsumi's direction. "We have to find Tamama. He couldn't have gotten far." he spoke in a deep, serious tone. Natsumi nodded.

"You take the hover board and search the skies. I'll stay here with the Toad. I need to be here just in case Teri wakes up and needs attention. Toad seems a bit too tired to take care of a crying child right now." she replied. Giroro agreed completely as he immediately headed towards the door. The loud creaking of the door being thrown open echoed through the house, its slam just a few seconds later echoing twice as loud. Natsumi turned her attention to the top of the stairs, expecting to here Teri begin crying after the loud noise that could have easily woken him up. Relieved to hear no noise coming from upstairs, she calmly sighed and sat beside Keroro, slowly placing her hand on the crying frog's head.

"What have I done? I should have known better than to yell at Tamama like that. Now I've chased him away." he cried, wanting more and more as time passed to cower back into his knees and begin crying once again. Natsumi frowned as she began rotating her hand around the brim of his head in a petting motion.

"Come on, Toad. Don't cry. We'll find Tamama. Giroro can find any-" Natsumi froze. Her own sentence had caught her off guard. She suddenly remembered the conclusion herself and Giroro had come to during their last search. The conclusion that made her sick to her stomach to think about. But as much as she wished that it wasn't true...it was the only thing they could accept as truth by this point.

Keroro noticed Natsumi's sudden change in vibe. She appeared to be lost in a strange thought of some kind, her eyes open wide and her mouth open just enough to make her look mildly shocked. "Master Natsumi? Are...you okay?"

Natsumi snapped out of her unforeseen daze and turned back to the frog beside her. Her chin sunk downward and her frown grew all the wider. It may not have seemed like the best time, but just as Giroro had explained to her earlier, the sooner that everyone heard the news, the better.

"T-Toad. There's something me and Giroro wanted to...to tell you." Natsumi stuttered. Keroro wiped as many tears out of his eyes as he could, becoming more invested in what Natsumi wanted to say than wasting his time crying about Tamama's disappearance.

"While me and Giroro were out looking for survivors today, we began to think about how quickly we were running out of places to look. It's been two years since the invasion ended, and we still haven't even found one surviving human on Earth. So...we've made a decision."

Keroro began to have a bad feeling about where this was going.

"We're done searching. We're just going to have to accept the fact that I..." she stuttered again. "...that I'm the only living human left in the universe. From this day on,...no more searching for survivors. We've given up."

Silence. Keroro kept his eyes focused on Natsumi, as she did on him. None of them knew exactly what to say next. Keroro could only think as to what this meant for him. He had been Teri's babysitter since the beginning. He was always there to watch him whenever Natsumi and Giroro went out searching. Now that it was over...what did this mean for his and Teri's relationship. When he's not watching Teri, all he did was clean the house and do backbreaking chores. He always felt that he was more of a maid than an actual resident. That is, except when he was watching Teri. Whenever he played with the small child or just acted goofy to keep him happy, he felt as if he had a close connection to the young infant. He felt as though he was an important part of Teri's life. That he was sort of an uncle or older brother to him. Whenever he played with Teri, he felt as though he was being useful in a way that no amount of complicated chores ever had.

"So...I guess you're off the hook for babysitting."

Keroro immediately drifted into deep thought. Without Natsumi and Giroro having to leave in search of survivors, he would have to spend all of his time from this point on doing chores and only chores. He'd be lucky to get even an hour a day to play with the baby, seeing as Natsumi could now spend all of her remaining time with him. With both her and Giroro permanently here from this point on, just how important would he be to little Teri's life now?

The tears returned. Keroro fell apart at this news, pushing him over the deep end. He threw himself into Natsumi's lap, letting all of his emotions explode in a muffled scream as he buried his face in her shirt. Natsumi, taken back a bit at first, chose to not resist the frog's clearly heavy need for comfort. She slowly, if a bit hesitantly, wrapped her arms around the crying frog in a warm, peaceful embrace.

* * *

><p>Giroro jumped back down off of his hover board for the second time today. He quickly balanced himself after the impact of the fall, letting out a stressful sigh. Turning towards the front door, he began to think what Keroro's reaction would be when he delivered the bad news. He had given the past two hours his all. He checked every corner of the skies. Every mountain. Every cave and crevice. Still, there was still no sign of Tamama anywhere. If he really was hiding from Keroro, he was doing a rather impressive job at it. But Giroro had a disturbing feeling that this wasn't the case. Something happened to Tamama. Something he couldn't explain. Something that had caused him to disappear entirely. Whatever it was that happened after Tamama left the house earlier that afternoon, it was clear that there was no longer any point in searching tonight. He had no leads as to where to look or what had happened. He was just wasting his time. Whether this will cause Keroro to thank or hate Giroro was yet to be seen. Shaking his head clean of the thought, he took in a deep breath and strolled up to the house.<p>

Slowly opening the door and walking inside, he noticed that the entire house was completely silent, which immediately didn't feel right. Taking a few steps forwards and walking into the living room to his right, he was surprised to find a rather unfamiliar sight in the corner of his eye. Setting his eyes on the couch that stood against the left wall of the room, he saw Natsumi laying there, sleeping soundly while sitting upright and resting her head against the back cushions. In her lap, however, was an equally peaceful looking Keroro sleeping silently with his head rested on her knees.

Giroro went blank, then smiled after a few moments of processing. After taking in the sight for more than enough time, he slowly creaked upstairs and grabbed his wife's blanked from their bed. Walking back downstairs at the same slow pace, he threw the blanket over the two quiet sleepers, wrapping most of the fabric around his beloved. Once he was sure that they were both cozy enough to last the night, he yawned to himself before turning back towards the stairs and walking back to his room. Falling weightlessly into his bed, he knew that his exhausted state wouldn't matter in the long run, seeing as he wasn't that fond of sleeping anymore. If he were to return to his sleep, he would just have another annoying nightmare about Natsumi dying, forcing him to wake up in a cold sweat and begin the entire night-after-night cycle over again. Rather than deal with such a painful routine AGAIN, he chose to just lay there silently until morning eventually came. It would take a while, sure, but at least it would be better than what was awaiting him in his sleep.

'I'm sorry, Keroro. I'm sorry that I couldn't find Tamama. I'll have to try again in the morning. I hope you can forgive me.'

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><p><strong>I'll be honest...this is a rather weird experience for me. Writing the beginning of this story, that is. More specifically, the KeroTama sections. This may be just me, but I've always been against Keroro and Tamama as a shipping. I mean, for one; Tamama's a child. A CHILD. That's pretty self-explanatory. But the other reason is that in almost EVERY single episode of the series dealing with the subject, it's always Tamama's affection for Keroro that is the main cause of the problem the episode is based around. Never have I once seen their relationship actually become the solution to a problem, unlike Giroro and Natsumi. Tamama's crush on Keroro feels less like an actual romance and more of an obstacle that needs to be overcome. So whenever I see Keroro and Tamama paired together, I only see it as influencing a shipping that, if we go off of what the show is telling is, was never meant to be in the first place.<strong>

**But hey, the first story had it, so I kind of have to put it into this story. Cause, you know,...sequel.**


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